CNN BREAKING NEWS

Condit Passed Lie Detector

Aired July 13, 2001 - 16:04 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's the news happening right now on the Levy investigation. Sources are now telling CNN that Congressman Gary Condit has, in fact, submitted to a lie detector test. We're following up on that story now. We get the latest from CNN correspondent, Bob Franken, who's following this story from Washington for us.

Bob, who gave this test?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joie, that's a very good question. What we have learned is, is that 5:00, which is about an hour from now, Abbe Lowell, who's the attorney for Gary Condit, will announce that the congressman did take a lie detector test. Its origin is unknown, to answer your question. But he will also announce that he passed it.

Now, the background of this is, is that there has been about a week-long debate over how Condit would take a lie detector test. The attorney for Condit, Abbe Lowell, had announced to the police he was willing to discuss it. They police wanted to, in fact, control the scope of the questions. You see Condit there leaving his apartment in Washington -- wanted to control the scope of the questions, the attorney for Condit did. The police said they didn't want any control over the scope of it.

We're going to find out, as a result, just how the test was administered. Was it administered under the control of Lowell or the police? In any case, the announcement will be that Condit did take the polygraph and passed the test, and then we'll have to find out if that is satisfactory to the police.

It is a day where there has been a lot of debate and a lot of discussion about the lie detector test. And also on the ground, a continuation of a search that could have a sad ending, as far as police are concerned. They fanned out once again in Northwest Washington, police officers did, with their special equipment and access to cadaver dogs. They are looking for Chandra Levy. They are looking in abandoned buildings to see if her body is there somehow. They are of course hoping it is not.

You see the police officers there. They're walking in the neighborhoods of downtown -- Northwest Washington, excuse me. They're going down into cellars like this one. Sometimes it's really quite dangerous work. They have to watch out that they don't step on nails, that type of thing. Thus far, no result. This will probably continue through the weekend in this sector of town, and they'll have to decide if they're going to do it elsewhere.

We were also told, Joie, that there would be a release later today of computer-enhanced pictures of Chandra Levy, showing how she might look if in fact were disguising herself and trying to hide, with her hair in different styles, that type of thing. No confirmation yet that that's going to happen.

But the news of the hour is that in about an hour, the attorney for Congressman Condit will announce that he has taken a lie detector test of unknown origin and has passed it -- Joie.